Why Borussia Dortmund fans will be singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’

Gerry and the Pacemakers’ “You’ll Never Walk Alone” may be a staple of Anfield, but even without Liverpool participating in the UEFA Champions League this season, the song will not go unheard in Europe’s top club competition.

Borussia Dortmund fans have been singing the song at home games since 1996 and are no doubt ready to do so again on Wednesday, when the team will play their first Champions League semifinal in 11 years and host Paris Saint-Germain to Signal Iduna Park for the occasion. The decades-long staple at Dortmund games came to be thanks to a once-skeptical cover band, a request from a friend and a connection to their local club.

Here’s a glance at the history behind “You’ll Never Walk Alone” becoming an iconic anthem for Dortmund fans.

One cover band covers another

Matthias Kartne, the frontman Dortmund-based cover band Pur Harmony, fielded a request from a good friend back in 1996: a cover of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Kartne greeted the ask with hesitation, simply saying in an interview with Liverpool’s…